Captivity
by cockycute
Summary: Regina goes to make a deal with Rumplestiltskin, but ends up getting more than she bargained for. Slightly OOC.


Despite my mother's wishes for me to follow in her footsteps and enter into a loveless marriage so that I can have power or financial security, I would much rather have love than power or anything else. I give away every penny to my name, if only I could build a life with Daniel. I would rather live in poverty in a tiny cottage with someone that I loved than have all the power and riches in the world, while living in a castle if it meant that I would have to spend my life alone. The most important thing in life is love. Even if you have all of the gold and jewels in the world, if you don't have love, then you have nothing worth having.  
Regina snickered as she read over her old diary entries. How could she have been so naive? If she had known then what she knew now, she wouldn't have wasted all of those years trying to please Daniel. She could have saved herself all of that pain and heartache if only she had taken her mother's advice gotten rid of Daniel. But she had been young and stupid, she had wanted love and she'd been willing to do anything to have it, she had thrown away what was important in life to achieve something worthless. Luckily she knew now that love was unimportant, it could even become a weakness, the only thing worth fighting for was power, because power was freedom, and love was captivity.  
Regina got into her carriage and rode over to Rumplestiltskin's palace to make a deal with him. She blew open his door and walked through it with her trademark strut. Rumplestiltskin looked up from his spinning. He took in her outfit and gave a small, amused smile. Her extravagant clothing and adornments made him think of a peacock, showily strutting around in order to attract a mate. He was surprised at the small twinge of disappointment that he felt when he realized that Regina wasn't, in fact, looking for a mate at all. No, she dressed the way she did to intimidate men, not to attract them.  
"What is it you want, Your Majesty?" Rumplestiltskin asked to distract himself from his disturbing thoughts.  
"Something that allows people to pull out hearts."  
"I thought you could already do that."  
"Well, it's obviously not for me."  
"Who's it for then?"  
Regina sighed impatiently. "Do you have it or not?"  
"I might have something..." He trailed off, waiting for Regina to ask about his price.  
"Aren't you going to get it for me?" Regina asked when Rumplestiltskin didn't move.  
"All magic comes with a price. The question is: Are you willing to pay it?"  
"I'm sure we can work something out." Regina purred as she seductively moved towards him. Rumplestiltskin was about to say that he didn't accept that kind of currency when he felt her lips on his. Electricity shot through his body. She was the first woman that he had kissed since Milah, and if he had to compare the two, Regina would have won, hands down. Rumplestiltskin was reveling in their kiss when he felt something odd start to happen. His skin felt like it was moving, changing, it almost felt like what had happened during his transformation into the Dark One. With a great effort, he pulled his head away from hers, furious at what she had been attempting to do.  
"You're trying to make me weak!"  
"Don't flatter yourself. You're no threat to me, with or without magic. I was just trying to hold up my end of the bargain."  
"You're a liar!"  
"I am not!" She was, but not for the reason he thought. If she had known that kissing him would take away his power, she never would have tried it. She needed her adversary, their rivalry was the only thing that distracted her from her misery and complete loneliness. She would never give that up for mere security. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Can I have the charm?"  
"Absolutely not! You tried to destroy me."  
"Don't be ridiculous." She said, having regained her composure. "And even if I had, it wouldn't have worked unless...Are you in love with me?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.  
"Don't flatter yourself, dearie." Rumplestiltskin scoffed.  
"Answer the question."  
"Of course I'm not. Are you in love with me?"  
"Don't be absurd."  
Rumplestiltskin's eyes widened as he realized she was lying. "You are, aren't you?"  
Regina struggled to remain calm. "Whether I am or not is irrelevant. Power is much more important to me than love. I would never give up my power for any man, especially not some revolting imp like you."  
"What game are you playing? No one could ever love a monster like me." He wished that she could, but even a woman as evil as The Queen couldn't love him. He had tricked too many people, ruined too many lives, he had done things so despicable that even he hated himself. There was no way that anyone could look past what he had done. Whoever said that love was blind was pathetic, tricking themselves into some ridiculous lie. He and Regina could never feel anything except contempt for each other. This fluttering in his stomach that he felt whenever he was around her was just excitement for their next battle, nothing more.  
Regina took the out that he had given her, and jumped at the chance to push him away. "Are you deaf? I told you that I didn't love you. I never will, and neither will anyone else." Thinking of her own experience, she involuntarily gave a small, sad smile, then turned it into a sneer when she realized what she was doing. "It's lonely at the top."  
"Not that you would know, seeing as how you're the second most powerful sorcerer in the land."  
Regina was glad that their awkward emotional moment was over and they were back to insulting one another.  
"It's so cute that you think you're more powerful than me."  
"Oh, I don't think. I know."  
"Whatever gets you through the day."  
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."  
Regina obligingly left his palace, sweeping the door shut with a flick of her wrist.  
Now that she knew the way that he felt about her, things could never go back to the way they were, but they could never move forward either. Neither one of them could give up their power to be in a relationship. They had given up everything else to achieve it. Their power was all they had. They were nothing without it.


End file.
